Ludlow Engineering and Land Survey

What is an ALTA survey?

ALTA stands for American Land Title Association. The ALTA is a group that represents the land title and title insurance industry. In addition to ALTA, the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) also accepts and conforms to ALTA survey conventions. An ALTA survey is a survey done in such a way that it conforms to ALTA standards. The good thing about this is that most surveyors know and understand this format – so once you get used to reading an ALTA survey you will be able to do it over and over again on subsequent transactions.

What does an ALTA survey contain?

Like any survey, an ALTA survey shows the physical characteristics of the property you are purchasing. The first thing an ALTA survey will give you is a description of the metes and bounds of the property. In other words, the survey will give you the actual description (longitude and latitude) of the property boundaries. Most buyers perform their own survey for due diligence to ensure that the property they are purchasing is the size they thought it was.

An ALTA survey also shows improvements on the property, rights of way on the property, as well as any easements granted by previous property owners. For land that you are considering developing, this is incredibly important. If you have an easement granted to the power company that goes straight through the middle of the property, it may be difficult, or impossible, to develop.

ALTA Survey and Title Insurance

An ALTA Survey and Title Insurance go hand in hand. You need to have a current title commitment before you can complete and ALTA survey. This initial title commitment will provide the initial description of the property.

The title company, however, will need the ALTA survey to be completed to finalize the transaction. When a land title company provides title insurance to you, they are guaranteeing you that there are not any unknown encumbrances on your property. To make that guarantee effectively the title insurance company

will use a survey to help delineate where the existing encumbrances, improvements, and easements are located.

ALTA is acceptable to lenders

One of the most important things about an ALTA survey is that it is approved by a host of different groups for use in transactions. That means that your financial partner will accept the information from an ALTA survey as accurate and can use it to help them determine the financing you will receive. This convention will save you money so that you do not have to conduct a special survey for each of the parties involved.

To some, boundary surveys suggest they are set to lose a section of their property but this is not the case. A boundary survey is carried out to determine and define property lines and is an important procedure for anyone buying a property of any type. This is because it can let the purchased know if they is any easement or encroachment on the property.

Many people mistakenly believe that a boundary survey is the same as a mortgage inspection but this is not the case. A mortgage inspection is subjective and they essentially check that whatever is said to be there, is actually there – this could potentially be very damaging and costly for the purchaser hence if you have professional documentation based on the boundary survey, you will be in a secure position moving forward.

Another common error is that some people believe a clear title indicates the owner can legally sell the property. Again, the purchaser is not guaranteed that the land, buildings, and so forth are accurate. The title insurance policies do not offer the needed protection for the buyer that might be discovered in a full boundary survey.

When carrying out a boundary survey, the surveyor will examine historical records relating to the property being purchased as well as taking a look at surrounding properties. In addition to this, they will also research historical associations and the registry of probate, as the more evidence the purchaser has of the boundaries, the better.

The cost of a boundary survey, in addition to other costs incurred when buying a property, often puts people off from having one carried out. In some cases though they do not realise a mistake further down the process could be most costly. The price of a survey is determined by a number of factors including location, size and even the season. At this stage it would not be uncommon to obtain an estimate – though note if any discrepancies are uncovered by the surveyor the estimate will rise based on additional work required.

When completed the survey will show a plan of the property, a written description, notes of any monuments on property corners and how certain factors were used to specify the boundaries. It is possible that the purchaser and surveyor made previous arrangements as to how the boundaries are marked – this could be in the form of trees, pipes or similar. Each of these will indicate the license number of the surveyor.

Despite being an additional expenditure at the start of the buying process, it can often save you money further down the line. If ignored now, and a new neighbour was to move in next door who queries as to why part of your property goes over to what they believe the boundary to be – a new problem can arise which would be more costly to rectify that the initial survey. As such, if there is any doubt regarding boundaries, a survey should always be carried out.

About the Author:
Sitechnics are a land survey company whom practice in boundary surveys, measured building surveys and topographic surveys. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

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Land survey services

Ludlow Engineering provides Quality Land Survey services in the States of Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and Idaho.

Specializing in ALTA, boundary, Topography and others…, Ludlow can perform the very largest to the very smallest of each of these types of surveys.

Below I have included some information about an ALTA Survey and its functions.

ALTA Surveys

ALTA stands for American Land Title Association. The ALTA is a group that represents the land title and title insurance industry. In addition to ALTA, the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) also accepts and conforms to ALTA survey conventions. An ALTA survey is a survey done in such a way that it conforms to ALTA standards. The good thing about this is that most surveyors know and understand this format – so once you get used to reading an ALTA survey you will be able to do it over and over again on subsequent transactions.

What does an ALTA survey contain?

Like any survey, an ALTA survey shows the physical characteristics of the property you are purchasing. The first thing an ALTA survey will give you is a description of the metes and bounds of the property. In other words, the survey will give you the actual description (longitude and latitude) of the property boundaries. Most buyers perform their own survey for due diligence to ensure that the property they are purchasing is the size they thought it was.

An ALTA survey also shows improvements on the property, rights of way on the property, as well as any easements granted by previous property owners. For land that you are considering developing, this is incredibly important. If you have an easement granted to the power company that goes straight through the middle of the property, it may be difficult, or impossible, to develop.

ALTA Survey and Title Insurance

An ALTA Survey and Title Insurance go hand in hand. You need to have a current title commitment before you can complete and ALTA survey. This initial title commitment will provide the initial description of the property.

The title company, however, will need the ALTA survey to be completed to finalize the transaction. When a land title company provides title insurance to you, they are guaranteeing you that there are not any unknown encumbrances on your property. To make that guarantee effectively the title insurance company

will use a survey to help delineate where the existing encumbrances, improvements, and easements are located.

ALTA is acceptable to lenders

One of the most important things about an ALTA survey is that it is approved by a host of different groups for use in transactions. That means that your financial partner will accept the information from an ALTA survey as accurate and can use it to help them determine the financing you will receive. This convention will save you money so that you do not have to conduct a special survey for each of the parties involved.

Click here to contact us about an ALTA survey – Land Survey Service